AuthorTopic: Can someone please stay home for once! (Read 1737 times)

I see Christyn Williams selected uconn to play her bball. The no 1 girls player in the country from Little Rock goes to uconn. When will these local high ranked talents stay home and play for UA. Corliss did and won a championship.

Can't really fault her for choosing UCONN. I am a HUGE Razorback fan of all sports, but what a program UCONN is for Women's basketball. If either of my kids chose Stanford (academics), Bama (Football), Duke (Mens Basketball), or UCONN (Womens Basketball) I could not get upset and would openly cheer for it.

I also saw her interview and she visited UCONN back in the 9th grade and established relationships then. Our program wasn't that great back then, we are growing and hopefully going in the right direction.

We did not sign a single person in the ESPNW Top 100 from Arkansas. The number of recruits out of Texas (6 out of the top 15) is astounding as well. Some of those players went out of state.

Any word on recruiting these women?2019 (No AR players in Top 100)2020 (Elauna Eaton #14 in Top 25)2021 (Wynter Rogers #14 Top 20)

There were two Top 100 18s from Arkansas - Williams and Yo'Myris Morris. Williams, as noted above, had removed us from consideration officially in the spring. Morris had us as one of her top 5 finalists and gave us an OV, but she opted to go to TCU. The new staff did not really have a lot of time to recruit her, and they did pretty well with the time they had. I have heard her AAU program generally is not happy with the U of A (mostly due to previous coaching regime). But I can't say that with any first-hand knowledge.

Neighbors recruited the #23 and #61 ranked EPSN kids from 2016 (A'Tyanna Gaulden and Chelsea Dungee, respectively) to transfer here over the summer. They both have to sit out this year due to transfer rules, but they are essentially "2018" recruits for our program. And they are great. But I think your post is more about in state kids, and Gaulden is from GA (Florida State) and Dungee is from OK (OU). Our JUCO signee is actually a Little Rock kid who went to Florida for JUCO - Raven Northcross-Baker. She will contribute some this year.

ESPN has actually not released a top 100 for 2019 yet, only a top 60. And while it's true the ESPN does not have any AR kids in the 2019 top 60, ProspectsNation (a similar service) has PG Kennedy Tucker from NLR as the #24 recruit in the country. She was on The Hill a couple weekends ago for an Unofficial. We have also offered another top in-state 2019, Springdale's Marqueshia Davis. She is not nationally ranked at this time, but her recruiting really heated up over the summer. She's a bit undersized for a small forward (5'11"), so I'm not sure where she projects in college.

The 2020 class in Arkansas is going to be unreal. In addition to Eaton, Sasha Goforth, Destiny Salary and Coriah Beck all have the chance to be ranked recruits. Goforth definitely will be (imo, it's ridiculous that ESPN doesn't have her in the top 25, but this far out the rankings are not all that meaningful, tbh). Arkansas is trying to seal the deal with all of these kids, all of whom have offers (and Goforth and Eaton already have 25+). Goforth has been on unofficial visits every home football weekend this year, per RD. McKenna VanZant from Farmington is also on the radar, as is Wyvette Mayberry (who recently moved from Fayetteville to Watson Chapel). Like I said, the 2020 instate class is incredible.

I know a little bit less about the 2021s. Rogers is obviously a blue chip, but I have also heard very good things about Jersey Wolfenbarger from FS Northside.

All that's missing from the upcoming instate crop is a post player. We will have to (it seems) go out-of-state to get a big.

We have a 2019 commit from OK's Ginger Reece (ProspectsNation #59), and we are actively recruiting several other top 2019 kids. This year (2018) was always going to be tough for this staff - they had relationships with very few in state kids (at UW, Neighbors recruited West Coast kids almost exclusively) or even within the SEC footprint.

I think this staff will get it done on the recruiting front. Folks didn't really respect Dykes' coaching abilities, and Collen was pretty much reviled by the in state HS and AAU coaches. Neighbors, on the other hand, is generally beloved in state. We will have to see if that makes a difference ... I think it will.

Not sure what prompted this today - it has been well-known for months that Williams wasn't coming to Arkansas. Reported in local and national publications.

There were two Top 100 18s from Arkansas - Williams and Yo'Myris Morris. Williams, as noted above, had removed us from consideration officially in the spring. Morris had us as one of her top 5 finalists and gave us an OV, but she opted to go to TCU. The new staff did not really have a lot of time to recruit her, and they did pretty well with the time they had. I have heard her AAU program generally is not happy with the U of A (mostly due to previous coaching regime). But I can't say that with any first-hand knowledge.

Neighbors recruited the #23 and #61 ranked EPSN kids from 2016 (A'Tyanna Gaulden and Chelsea Dungee, respectively) to transfer here over the summer. They both have to sit out this year due to transfer rules, but they are essentially "2018" recruits for our program. And they are great. But I think your post is more about in state kids, and Gaulden is from GA (Florida State) and Dungee is from OK (OU). Our JUCO signee is actually a Little Rock kid who went to Florida for JUCO - Raven Northcross-Baker. She will contribute some this year.

ESPN has actually not released a top 100 for 2019 yet, only a top 60. And while it's true the ESPN does not have any AR kids in the 2019 top 60, ProspectsNation (a similar service) has PG Kennedy Tucker from NLR as the #24 recruit in the country. She was on The Hill a couple weekends ago for an Unofficial. We have also offered another top in-state 2019, Springdale's Marqueshia Davis. She is not nationally ranked at this time, but her recruiting really heated up over the summer. She's a bit undersized for a small forward (5'11"), so I'm not sure where she projects in college.

The 2020 class in Arkansas is going to be unreal. In addition to Eaton, Sasha Goforth, Destiny Salary and Coriah Beck all have the chance to be ranked recruits. Goforth definitely will be (imo, it's ridiculous that ESPN doesn't have her in the top 25, but this far out the rankings are not all that meaningful, tbh). Arkansas is trying to seal the deal with all of these kids, all of whom have offers (and Goforth and Eaton already have 25+). Goforth has been on unofficial visits every home football weekend this year, per RD. McKenna VanZant from Farmington is also on the radar, as is Wyvette Mayberry (who recently moved from Fayetteville to Watson Chapel). Like I said, the 2020 instate class is incredible.

I know a little bit less about the 2021s. Rogers is obviously a blue chip, but I have also heard very good things about Jersey Wolfenbarger from FS Northside.

All that's missing from the upcoming instate crop is a post player. We will have to (it seems) go out-of-state to get a big.

We have a 2019 commit from OK's Ginger Reece (ProspectsNation #59), and we are actively recruiting several other top 2019 kids. This year (2018) was always going to be tough for this staff - they had relationships with very few in state kids (at UW, Neighbors recruited West Coast kids almost exclusively) or even within the SEC footprint.

I think this staff will get it done on the recruiting front. Folks didn't really respect Dykes' coaching abilities, and Collen was pretty much reviled by the in state HS and AAU coaches. Neighbors, on the other hand, is generally beloved in state. We will have to see if that makes a difference ... I think it will.

Awesome post! Thanks for informing us on the state of Women's Razorback Basketball recruiting. It is very hard to follow it.

I know I have said this before but you have to include Lakyn Sanders Lamar High School/Arkansas Mavericks in this list of must see players. I have watched her compete against all these girls listed and Coach Neighbors will be missing the boat if he doesn't follow her closely. She is a sophomore this year and was All State last year as a freshman.

I am not sure how much contact there's been with the current staff. What AAU team is she playing with these days? She's not listed on the Arkansas Mavericks website (and I know she had been playing with them in the past).

Yes she had a unofficial last year. She is still an Arkansas Maverick, she tore her ACL in late spring in Wichita, was having as good of spring as any 2020 point guard at the time. She is expected back in the middle of a December at the earliest. And hopes to make the showing she did at The last Arkansas camp she attended.

I may be wrong, but based on limited data and not a good memory, female athletes leave their state far more than male athletes. If I am correct, and I suspect that I am, loyalty to their state's college is not in their psyche.

Really sorry to hear about her knee! Hope she recovers fully (much like Elauna Eaton seems to have done) and gets back on track!

Thank you. Obviously I'd never wish any harm on my kiddo, but injuries are a part of sports. And players can learn from them to make better/smarter players. She looks very sharp right now. She should return very ready!

The truth is that we live in a highly mobile society, a lot of these girls are not steeped (as well as the guys) in Razorback tradition and that is one difference that doesnt lend itself to them thinking first and foremost to staying home. They simply dont have allegiance to the state because some of them like Jessica Jackson, Chrystn Williams, Sasha Goforth and others have lived other places when they were in their formative years.

Add to that the fact that at least during some of those formative years we havent had good coaching and a good women's program to build a tradition on. We were lucky to get JJ, Malica Monk and some others. But in some cases we couldnt even keep some of them. MN will change all that in time. If you have the respect of the high school and AAU coaches it doesnt make all the difference but it does make a lot. MN has that respect, plus he has a national reputation for both winning at a high level and in developing players. How long has it been since we have had a coach we could say all those things about? You have to give your players something to stay home for. It is regrettable that we have lost the last two players, but with Williams we never really had a chance.

I have not really looked at everyone else but what I will say is that Gardner, Collen and Dykes should have never come here. If situation was different then maybe things would have been different but with that being said we must remain encouraged and not punish this staff for past mistakes by previous staff. I don't believe that Neighbors will have any problems getting talent in here.

I have not really looked at everyone else but what I will say is that Gardner, Collen and Dykes should have never come here.

You will get no argument from me on Gardner and Dykes. Both were outrageous stretches. Collen, however, was a very reputable coach who started the turnaround at Louisville (he recruited Angel McCoughtry there, which is what started to make them relevant) and had Arkansas connections. His teams were not terrible, but he had trouble recruiting, imo. He did get JJ to come, and some other talent ó just not enough. Part of that could be that he had bad relationships with local/in-state coaches. Toward the end of his time it seemed to me as though he was just run down and sort of phoning it in. His wife was the only fire on the staff (and is now a WNBA coach).

Collen didnít work out as expected, but I donít think he was a bad (or foolish) hire. Gardner and Dykes, however ...

You will get no argument from me on Gardner and Dykes. Both were outrageous stretches. Collen, however, was a very reputable coach who started the turnaround at Louisville (he recruited Angel McCoughtry there, which is what started to make them relevant) and had Arkansas connections. His teams were not terrible, but he had trouble recruiting, imo. He did get JJ to come, and some other talent  just not enough. Part of that could be that he had bad relationships with local/in-state coaches. Toward the end of his time it seemed to me as though he was just run down and sort of phoning it in. His wife was the only fire on the staff (and is now a WNBA coach).

Collen didnt work out as expected, but I dont think he was a bad (or foolish) hire. Gardner and Dykes, however ...

I totally agree with you. Worn out is the key in my opinion. He had three kids under five and was 57 years old. I was retired and playing golf when I was 57 - not raising three kids five and under.

I see Christyn Williams selected uconn to play her bball. The no 1 girls player in the country from Little Rock goes to uconn. When will these local high ranked talents stay home and play for UA. Corliss did and won a championship.

I went to CAC and visited my old school in August. While there, I talked to the AD (Doug Kilgore) about Williams & where she was going. Coach Kilgore was at CAC when I went there & he was very informative about her recruitment. He pretty much summed up that Arkansas was never in play, and UCONN has been all over for a while. He said that Geno had visited CAC a few times, and even went to some of CAC's away games to watch her.

Can't blame her. She's been a 5-star since the 9th grade & has been on the women's college basketball national radar pretty much since she was 12. With the uncertainty of AR Women's basketball over the last 5 years, and crowds of less than 1,000 for games, it's no wonder that the Hogs were never really in play, even though Arkansas was her first scholarship offer when she was in 8th grade!

If she was an up & comer or a project player, and didn't reach 5-star status until her Sr. year, she might have come to AR. Tough to turn down UCONN when they've been on you for years.

She's not Malik Monk, who the university did everything possible for he and his family to make him a Hog... and then shunned us at the last minute!